Work Vehicle Travel Levers With Integrated Parking Brake
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing self-driving work vehicles face issues with drivers forgetting to engage the parking brake when exiting the vehicle, leading to potential accidents or unauthorized long-term vehicle abandonment.
Innovation Solution
A self-driving work vehicle design that integrates a variable traveling power supply apparatus with a parking brake system, where the parking brake is automatically engaged when specific movement paths of operation implements are triggered, eliminating the need for a dedicated parking brake operation and ensuring the brake is applied when exiting the vehicle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a dedicated parking brake operation implement is provided, then the parking brake can be operated reliably, but the device complexity increases and the ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The operation implements (left and right travel levers) are designed to serve dual purposes: controlling vehicle movement during operation and triggering parking brake engagement during exit. By adding branching paths (third and fourth paths) to the existing operation implements, they can now perform both travel control and parking brake functions, eliminating the need for a separate dedicated parking brake implement.
Solution Approach 2:
The parking brake function is merged with the travel control function by integrating the parking brake operation into the existing operation implements. The controller monitors the position of the left and right operation implements and automatically engages the parking brake when both are detected in their respective branching paths, combining two functions into one integrated system.
2Ease of operation
If the parking brake operation is integrated into existing operation implements, then the ease of operation improves, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring the operation state increases
Solution Approach 1:
The operation implement's movement path is segmented into distinct trajectories: first and second paths for travel control, and third and fourth paths for parking brake engagement. This segmentation allows the controller to clearly differentiate between travel operations and parking brake operations by detecting which specific path the implement follows, simplifying the detection logic despite the multi-functional design.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller acts as an intermediary that monitors the position and movement path of the operation implements. It detects whether the implements are moved along the branching paths (third and fourth paths) and automatically triggers the parking brake operation based on this detection, mediating between the driver's input and the brake system activation.
3Ease of operation
If the operation implements are moved along branching paths to engage parking brake, then the ease of operation improves, but the exit passage space is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The operation implements are designed with dynamic movement capabilities, allowing them to follow different paths based on the driver's intent. The branching paths (third and fourth paths) are positioned to engage the parking brake while minimizing interference with the driver's exit trajectory. The system dynamically adapts the function of the operation implements based on their movement state, enabling parking brake engagement without permanently obstructing the exit passage.
Data Source
AI summary
A self-driving work vehicle includes: a front wheel unit; a rear wheel unit including a left rear wheel and a right rear wheel; a variable traveling power supply apparatus that supplies rotational drive power to the left rear wheel and the right rear wheel independently; a left operation implement movable along a first path to adjust a rate of the rotational drive power to be supplied to the left rear wheel from the variable traveling power supply apparatus; a right operation implement movable along a second path to adjust a rate of the rotational drive power to be supplied to the right rear wheel from the variable traveling power supply apparatus; a parking brake provided for the variable traveling power supply apparatus; and a controller configured or programmed to cause a parking brake operating module to operate the parking brake.